The Beatles members have released countless legendary tracks together and during their solo careers, butPaul McCartneyonly liked one song by one of the bandmates. In the years after The Beatles split, McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison all released their own solo albums. However,McCartney is considered to have had the most successful solo career.
McCartney has released 19 solo albumsthroughout his career, with the most recent,McCartney III, being released in 2020. The singer has also released five classical albums, eight albums with his band Wings, and three albums with his duo The Fireman. His bandmates have also found solo success, but initially, McCartney only liked one song from his former co-writer.
Paul McCartney Only Really Liked John Lennon’s “Imagine”
McCartney Said He Didn’t Like The Others Much
The same year The Beatles officially announced their split,John Lennon released his first solo album,John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.A year later, in 1971, he released his second album,Imagine.This was the same year Paul McCartney gave his opinionon his former bandmate’s music.
In an interview with the now-defunct UK publicationSounds, McCartney mentioned “Imagine” was the only song by Lennon that he really liked. “I liked ‘Imagine’, I didn’t like the others much,” McCartney admitted. At the time,Lennon and McCartney were at the height of their feud.
After the band split up,the former songwriting partners' relationship went south, and they regularly threw hits at each other in interviews. The same year, McCartney expressed his dislike for most of Lennon’s music; in return, the former Beatles lead called McCartney’s debut album “rubbish.”
The two also let their anger towards each other come through in their music, with McCartney penning the diss track “Too Many People,” and Lennon responding with “How Do You Sleep.” It’s possible that McCartney’s real problem with Lennon’s music was thathe just had too much animosity toward him at the timeto enjoy his work.
After all, in later years, McCartney expressed that he found the feud to be weird and nasty. Given another chance, McCartney may have had a different response.
McCartney Wasn’t Into The Political Messaging Until He Mastered It Himself
McCartney Thought There Was Too Much Political Music At The Time
While McCartney and Lennon’s feud may have played a role in the singer only liking “Imagine,” this is not the reason The Beatles member gave. According to the sameSoundinterview,McCartney didn’t like the political messaging in Lennon’s music.
McCartney confessed, “There’s so much political sh** on at the moment that I tend to play them through once to see if there’s anything I can pinch.” However, this was before McCartney mastered the art of a political anthem.
In 1972, Paul McCartney and his wife, Linda McCartney, penned the political anthem “Give Ireland Back To The Irish” in response to Bloody Sunday. They performed the song with their London-based band Wings, and it isrecognized as McCartney’s first overtly political song.
McCartney would release several protest songs later in his career, one of the more recent being “People Want Peace.” The 2018 track was inspired by the Israel-Palestine conflict. While McCartney may have initially been turned off by Lennon’s protest songs, once he got the hang of it himself,political music became a part of his legacy.
Has McCartney’s Opinion Since Changed?
McCartney Has More To Say These Days
Later in the ’70s, McCartney and Lennon ended their bitter feud, withMcCartney trading his diss tracks for a much kinder song about Lennon called “Dear Friend.“McCartney also expressed how grateful he was that he and Lennon were able to patch up their friendship before Lennon’s tragic death in 1980.
It’s hard to say if this played a role in how McCartney spoke about Lennon’s music or if he simply changed his mind as he got older. However, these days,McCartney speaks much more highly of his late friend’s musicthan he did in 1971.
According to a 2021BBC Radio 2interview, McCartney still chooses “Imagine” as a top John Lennon song, but also had positive things to say about his other tracks. McCartney also loves “Instant Karma” and says “Beautiful Boy” is his favorite. This checks out with a 1984BBC Radio 4interview where he also said the 1980 track was his favorite.
It’s nice to see that, all these years later, he’s learned to appreciate his late friend’s work.
McCartney has also expressed his admiration for The Beatles track “Julia,” which Lennon wrote about his mother, who died at only 44 in 1958. He also lovesother Beatles songsthat Lennon wrote, like “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Across The Universe.” It’s very likely that McCartney’s ill feelings toward Lennon resulted in him making a petty comment in an interview.
After all, most Beatles fans could agree that Lennon was an incredibly gifted songwriter. DespitePaul McCartney’s initial reaction to Lennon’s music, it’s nice to see that, all these years later, he’s learned to appreciate his late friend’s work.
